Nematic ferromagnetism on the Lieb lattice

TL;DR

This paper investigates how quadratic-flat band crossing points influence ferromagnetic order on the Lieb lattice, revealing a nematic ferromagnetic phase that breaks symmetries and transitions to a conventional ferromagnet with increasing interaction.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of nematic ferromagnetism induced by flat band crossing points on the Lieb lattice, highlighting symmetry-breaking and phase transition mechanisms.

Findings

Nematic ferromagnetic order emerges at weak interactions.

Rotational symmetry is restored at a critical interaction strength.

Spin gap magnitude is proportional to interaction strength.

Abstract

We discuss the properties of possible ferromagnetic orders on the Lieb lattice. We show that the presence of a quadratic-flat band crossing point (QFBCP) at half filling will dramatically affect the magnetic ordering. In the presence of a weak on-site repulsive interaction, we find the ground state is a nematic ferromagnetic order with simultaneously broken of time-reversal and rotational symmetries. When the interaction strength increases, the rotational symmetry will restore at some critical value, and the system enters a conventional ferromagnetic regime. We also point out that the spin gap in both the nematic and conventional ferromagnetic phases is of the order of interaction. This observation suggests that these magnetic orders can be realized and detected in cold atomic systems with present technology.